Ron Nocetti, Brian Seymour, CIF State Office Staff, Diane Marshall-Freeman, Bobbi Madsen, Cici Robinson, William Chavarin, Rebecca Brutlag, Brian Sandy, Christina ShannonLet ALL California High School/EBAL Cheerleaders Cheer!
In the most recent guideline from the California Department of Public Health, it was announced that "Sideline cheer, band, drumline or other supporting groups are not allowed to attend sporting events at this time." California HS cheerleaders have been preparing and practicing for months just for the latest statement to cancel all sideline cheer at sporting events (right before the first football games of the season). This is unfair and outrageous that talented hardworking athletes are yet again disregarded as a serious sport. Athletes and Coaches have been taking proper safety precautions and social distancing guidelines for their respective counties to ensure the safety of our athletes. While many football programs aren't requiring their students to mask up, how is a group of socially distanced, masked cheerleaders more of a risk? Cheerleaders are hardworking student athletes and at the least deserve to perform this year. The continuation of allowing football athletes to compete is unfair and irrational. Football has always been prioritized over cheerleading, but allowing games to continue (with a parent audience) without sideline cheer is such a disappointment. We are a sport and our athletes deserve this. Our seniors deserve this. Our cheerleaders deserve this.
You fought relentlessly for male-dominated sports like football and baseball to begin again, so please help us with that same energy to get our cheerleaders back to sidelines. This year has been very emotionally taxing for everyone, but especially high school students and athletes. With so many amazing cheer programs, we've made life-long friends, teammates, and memories, and to end our year with such a disappointing conclusion would be heartbreaking for so many cheerleaders. Parents, you were all able to experience your high school days and make many memories, so please help us out and share, repost, and spread the word to help the high school cheerleaders of California perform again.
Please take the time to read the thoughts of a few seniors from Foothill High School's Varsity Cheer team in Pleasanton, CA:
"Schools have always been clear when showing their lack of care towards their cheer team. Whether it’s by kicking the team out of facilities, depriving them from school funds, or blatantly disregarding the team as a whole, we’ve put up with it. We’ve accepted our place in their views, but we still continued practicing our sport and performing. But even after doing all said actions, the fact that the state decided to take our performance away only further proves how little not only the schools care, but also how little the state cares about the thousands of us. The state forgets that although we perform at the football games, we do not perform for the football team. The cheer team is not just an extension of the audience. We are a sport. We perform for our audience. We perform for ourselves (and we do so safely and are aware of the situation). I wish that the authority figures would see past their misogyny and allow us to have a season. We have put up with the lack of space and money, but please have some decency and at least spare us some respect."
"I honestly just think it’s incredibly unfair to the students who have been working extremely hard in order to perform just once or twice but don’t even get that. How come the parents of the football players get to attend? Have they been practicing almost all year long just to stare at a field and cheer their sons on? No. Why are we prioritizing those parents over the students. Those parents have already lived out their high school years and had time to go to football games but for this year's seniors we have little to nothing. The least we could have is a single football game to perform at. It’s honestly sad how much American schools prioritize football over literally everything. Every sport, Every extra curricular, even some academics. The amount of times our cheer team has been kicked out of practice or had to change our schedule to accommodate for a football team who barely even wins is ridiculous. We put in just as much time, effort, and money (if not more) than these football players do, so why aren’t we receiving the same amount of respect and priority as them? For years cheer has been looked down upon, as less than, never equal to football or really, any other sport. No matter how many trophies we get, banners we receive, or national titles we win, our names and work are never recognized nearly as much as the football team. Sexism? I think yes. It’s the way football is SO prioritized over others, even their parents (who add no contribution to the games ((other than support))) get a spot on the bleachers at games. What happened to putting our students first? Cheer is one of the few things that has given my team and I the motivation to keep moving forward through this dreadful year of quarantine and the one thing we were looking forward to most (cheering at games) was stripped from us. I think we should replace the crowd of un-spirited parents with a spirited team of hard working and hopeful cheerleaders and band members. We’ve worked hard for this. Let us have this one thing. Please. -AZ"
#LetThemPlay #LetThemPerform #LetThemCheer #HelpCaliforniaCheer
Thank you!